Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Hi Everyone, Last post I mentioned that I joined Mel's group at Epic Stitching of 130 stitchers who have committed to keep our stash spending to $25.00 or less each month. This idea sounded great to me as I have stash spread out in every room of our home, and we plan to renovate another room this summer to turn it into my craft room. Often I know I have something but just can't seem to find it - whether it is a thread I need or a pattern I know I purchased. So I am trying to put projects together, and make my shopping lists for those that are incomplete.Part of this challenge is to report our success or failure to stay within our budget on our blog by the 28th of each month.
This month I am happy to report as a success - mostly since we've had so many days of shoveling and chopping ice that I didn't get out to spend any money. I even managed to stay away from my Internet stash shopping - although I still have a December birthday gift card and a couple of Christmas gift cards to use up.

I did however get to do a small amount of stitching. Sorry my pictures are a bit dark - guess I forgot to turn on the flash.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Hi Everyone,
Last month I participated in a Christmas exchange. My partner was Dawn. I read on her blog that she liked cardinals, so I searched through my older Just Cross Stitch Ornament issues, and found this one in the 2008 issue.

The weather has been rain and ice for the past week, so I took advantage of that and started to clean up some of my stitching areas. I have found a few more duplicates, as well as some treasures that I had forgotten about. I thought that I would put together some new starts as this year I joined Mel's Stitching from Stash 2014. Hopefully this challenge will help me sort through my stash before this summer when we plan to renovate another room, and I will have to box up some supplies.

Cath received my giveaway package - so now I can share the lovely fob that I included.

I'm not sure if I am going to start a new HAED or work on finishing another one of my WIP's. I have so many to choose from....Hmmm. I guess I'll have to see which one calls to me the most. For now I can't decide if it will be Mini Gothic Girl Artwork by Lisa Parker, Mini Frozen Hearts Artwork by Zindy S.D. Nelson, Mini La Victime Artwork by Nene Thomas, Mini Too many books Artwork by Randall Spangler, Storykeep Water Dragon Artwork by Anne Stokes, or Stocking Cherished Christmas Artwork by Ching Chou-Kuik.

Meet Bucky...on the day he adopted us...The rusty color on his back was all his loose undercoat.

And here is Samantha... she has white boots.

They are slowly settling in. We have been told that they are between 9 and 12 years old. Some sort of Shepherd / lab mix.. about 75 pounds each. The day they found us it was bitter cold (below zero° F) with about 8" of fresh powdery snow. Expected temps that night were to be -24° F below. Thankfully we spotted them. They have a sad history. We found out that their original owner was in a car accident that put him in a nursing home. His son took the dogs and dropped them. The were rescued by an animal control officer in late May. We learned their names (Bucky & Samantha), and that they were brother and sister, and that they had all their shots. They were adopted out to a new family sometime September - October of 2013. Sadly they were dropped again. We aren't sure when they were dropped - but the were dehydrated and very hungry. They now have their forever home. It's just taking them awhile to let us be in separate rooms. Hopefully when they nap this afternoon, I'll be able to catch up on my emails and some household chores. They are very affectionate, and when I sit down to stitch, they decide it's play time. LOL!